Chapter 16. This has taken a while to get up as I was off on a little holiday. Plus my Internet lead buggered up and I had no Internet for a week.

'Hush hush darling, don't tell me cause it hurts.'

Don't Speak

No Doubt

It was weird being a dog. Getting used to walking on four legs was difficult. Trotting round Sirius' cave, Daniel wished she had become a parrot or something easy. But a dog would have to do. She could hear Sirius and the three Gryffindors approaching. As Sirius bounded jovially into the cave with a Daily Prophet in his mouth, she saw the surprise register in his eyes. Harry, Ron and Hermione bowed to Buckbeak, and stared at her in mild surprise.

"Did you get another pet, Sirius?" asked Ron, staring curiously at Daniel, who was disguised quite cleverly as a sleek, shiny Doberman.

"Something like that, yeah." He replied, now in human form, and whistled to beckon her over. Scratching her ears roughly, he began talking to Harry.

"What's she called?" asked Ron, who looked as though he didn't know whether to pet her or kick her.

"She won't bite, Ron." Sirius said, " I decided to call her Poker."

"Poker?" said Ron incredulously, stroking her back gingerly. She barked in response.

"See? She knows her name."

Daniel remained lying on the floor during the conversation between Harry and Sirius. Ron and Hermione talked as well, but Harry had a lot of questions for Sirius. Occasionally, Sirius would throw her a bit of bread or a chicken bone. When they left, she turned back into a human.

"That was unusual." Said Sirius blankly, staring at her in shock. "What possessed you to do that?"

"Just felt like it." She replied, picking bits of chicken bone from between her teeth. "Wanted to see what you and Harry's relationship was like." Pausing again to pick her teeth clean, "Quite fascinating, actually." Glancing at her with an exasperated expression hanging on his thin face, he picked up the latest copy of the Daily Prophet. Flicking through it absentmindedly, he pottered about the cave for a bit, adjusting the piles of old newspapers lying around.

"You should recycle those." She said, watching deluges of slaters flood out into the grass from under the papers. He made a strange little noise under his breath. "Are you alright?" Daniel asked, as he ran his hand through his hair for the fourth time.

"Severus came to see me last night." He said quietly, sitting down opposite her.

"What did he want?" she replied, surprised as Severus usually avoided Sirius like the plague.

"Alexander was off somewhere so he came to give me some food."

Sirius laughed hoarsely. "Probably poisoned it or something."

"Did you two talk at all?"

"A bit. I asked how you got on in the Second Task and he said you came out first. I take it he was the thing you'd miss the most?" he asked, sounding stung.

"He was. Is. Sirius…" she tried to answer him, but the look on his wasted face showed more emotion was there than he let on. "You should count yourself lucky you weren't there. You'd have been back in Azkaban." It came out a bit harsher than she intended. "He's family, Sirius. He's just about the only family I've got." She studied his face closely. He looked old. Older than Severus or Alexander, anyway.

"I know." With obvious effort, he smiled. "You should have left him in the lake." Glaring, she shuffled about copies of the Daily Prophet.

"You look a bit strange." He said questioningly, ignoring the look on her face.

"You know how to make a girl feel special." Daniel replied condescendingly. When he didn't take his oddly piercing glare off her face, she elaborated. "I had a dream before the Second Task." Shifting her gaze to not see his concern, she stood up and wandered idly over to Buckbeak. Petting the hippogriff's feathery neck, she felt Sirius wrap his arms around her waist and rest his head softly on her shoulder. Sirius was the only person other than herself who knew what exactly the dreams contained. Continuing to pet Buckbeak, who had his head turned around, looking at them with a single amber coloured eye, Daniel realised with a not unfamiliar start how warm he felt. His hands clasped over her stomach moved slightly, hugging her tighter. He hadn't shaved, and she could feel the stubble prickling her through her thin robes. He moved one of his hands and rested it instead on her hip. Looking round at him, she found he was looking back with a fiendishly hopeful glint in his eye. Weighing her options, those options being returning to the school, or staying a little longer with Sirius, or indeed going and having a drink in Madame Rosmerta's, she conceded to his wandering hands and turned slightly, pulling him into a kiss. A cough sounded from the entrance. Severus was standing there with a highly disgusted look on his face. Sirius cursed. Daniel smiled. "Are you coming in?" she asked politely, noticing the bag he was holding. Clearing his throat again, he stalked into the cave and bowed irritatedly to Buckbeak, who surveyed him contemptuously.

"Alexander sent this." He stated harshly, wanting no part in aiding Sirius to exist. "But you may have already eaten." He added sourly, placing the bag on a rock. "You better get back up to the school." He said, looking pointedly at Daniel. Glancing apologetically at Sirius, who smiled faintly, Daniel followed Severus out of the cave.

Walking quickly down the hill, they didn't talk.

"I've caught you and Alexander at it loads of times." She stated, "and it was a hell of a lot worse than what you saw. The vast majority of the times I caught you two copulation was underway." Daniel said, looking up at him.

"You don't need to remind me." He replied, staring round the streets of Hogsmeade. "But I don't think a cave is the ideal setting. Think of the injuries. Instead of carpet burn, there'd be rock burn." Smiling wickedly at the thought of Sirius with incredibly painful rock burn, Severus ignored the condescending look she gave him.

"You could make an attempt at liking him." She said simply, the two of them getting closer to Hogwarts.

"I attempted to like him the entire time we were at Hogwarts. And you know what he did?" he looked at her expectantly.

"I haven't a clue."

"He told the entire school I fancied him. Teachers and all." He seethed for a while. "As if it wasn't hard enough for me at Hogwarts without everyone calling me a faggot!" he nearly screamed, ignoring the perplexed looks of a few sixth years.

"That's how you met Alexander, though. He heard that you were gay and got interested. So did you, if you remember." She placated sardonically, still feeling the anger almost radiating off him.

Walking quietly to the doors of the school, apparently a little embarrassed about his outburst, Severus parted without a word and went to the staff room. Staring after him for a bit, she turned and strode briskly to the Slytherin Common Room.

"Daniel!" called a too-familiar voice. Turning on her heel, Draco looked a bit flustered. "Can I talk to you?" Rolling in her eyes, she followed him into the showers, yet again.

"Is this important?" she snapped, feeling tired and hungry.

"Well, I got a letter from my father today, and…" he stopped. Her eyes had wandered, apparently of their own accord; beneath his pointed chin and rested longingly on his neck. Noticing his pause, she snapped her head up. Rubbing her eyes roughly, she made an attempt at an apology. "It's ok, um, I suppose you're just a bit, er, hungry, then?" Nodding, Daniel saw a trace of fear jump about his face.

"Well, it's just that, my father knows you're here. At Hogwarts. And he's not too happy." Draco surveyed her face closely, making Daniel feel a bit too scrutinized.

"And what?" she said harshly, annoyed at him for no good reason.

"He says he'll have you taken out of Hogwarts if you don't stop coming into contact with me." He said the last few words with a weird look on his face.

"You told him." She hissed. "You told him I bit you, I warned about this Draco!" she snarled, her voice rising slightly. A look of pure terror raced across his face and he spun around to open the door. Just as he reached the handle, her strangely elongated fingers clamped onto his upper arms and pulled him back. As she shoved him onto the floor, he saw little flashes of his life flicker on the ceiling. His first broom, watching his father's face light up with pride as he raced around the grounds, remembering their family holiday in Italy, and visiting the ancient ruins, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa. His first day at Hogwarts. His mother sobbing as she waved goodbye, and his father writing daily letters, asking him everything about his wonderful new school. He was flat on his back, not even attempting to struggle. Daniel froze. Not wanting to look at her, he thought about everything he'd miss, and he began to cry.

Hmm. Sorry about the 'life flashing before your eyes' thing but as I'm sure we all realize by now, nearly anything can happen at Hogwarts.

Including horribly corny flashbacks. The Green Giant would be out of business. Hee hee.

Xanadan